Help! Instable network on 6.06 based SuperMicro server with e1000 Intel driver

[Aart Koelewijn]

On Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:22:23 +0100, Floris Vlasveld wrote:

> On 24 feb 2008, at 16:52, Nick Webb wrote:
> 
>> Floris Vlasveld wrote:
>>>
>>> And, the output of "ethtool eth0" and eth1:
>>>
>>> Settings for eth0:
>>> Supported ports: [ TP ]
>>> Supported link modes:   10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
>>>                        100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
>>>                        1000baseT/Full
>>> Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
>>> Advertised link modes:  10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
>>>                        100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
>>>                        1000baseT/Full
>>> Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
>>> Speed: 100Mb/s
>>> Duplex: Full
>>> Port: Twisted Pair
>>> PHYAD: 0
>>> Transceiver: internal
>>> Auto-negotiation: on
>>> Supports Wake-on: umbg
>>> Wake-on: g
>>> Current message level: 0x00000007 (7) Link detected: yes
>>>
>>> Settings for eth1:
>>> Supported ports: [ TP ]
>>> Supported link modes:   10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
>>>                        100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
>>>                        1000baseT/Full
>>> Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
>>> Advertised link modes:  10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
>>>                        100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
>>>                        1000baseT/Full
>>> Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
>>> Speed: 100Mb/s
>>> Duplex: Full
>>> Port: Twisted Pair
>>> PHYAD: 0
>>> Transceiver: internal
>>> Auto-negotiation: on
>>> Supports Wake-on: umbg
>>> Wake-on: g
>>> Current message level: 0x00000007 (7) Link detected: yes
>>
>> I have similar SuperMicro servers with no issues.  I'd look first at
>> the
>> switch this server is connect to and make sure the ports are set to
>> auto
>> negotiate just like your interfaces are.  If they are set to auto
>> negotiation, then I'd force them to 100/full and do the same to your
>> server's network cards.  I've seen speed/duplex mismatches cause lots
>> of
>> odd problems before.
>>
>> Aside from that, I'd be looking for hardware issues.  See anything odd
>> in the logs?
>>
>>
>> Nick
> 
> 
> Thanks for the tips Nick. I've first of all forced eth0 (the 'external'
> interface) to operate at 100/Full. However, that didn't stop the
> problem. I then changed the settings so that eth0 was allowed to
> negotiate, but only up to 10/Full. Unfortunately, this didn't solve the
> problem as well. At this time, I'm not able to force the 3com switch to
> operate at 100/full only. However, it should be able to handle both
> 100/full and 10/full perfectly.
> 
> Output of ethtool eth0 at this time:
> 
> Settings for eth0:
> 	Supported ports: [ TP ]
> 	Supported link modes:   10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
> 	                        100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
> 	                        1000baseT/Full
> 	Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
> 	Advertised link modes:  10baseT/Full
> 	Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
> 	Speed: 10Mb/s
> 	Duplex: Full
> 	Port: Twisted Pair
> 	PHYAD: 1
> 	Transceiver: internal
> 	Auto-negotiation: on
> 	Supports Wake-on: umbg
> 	Wake-on: g
> 	Current message level: 0x00000007 (7) Link detected: yes
> 
> Hardware issue is of course always possible. However, since both eth0
> and eth1 display this problem, that seems quite unlikely.
> 
> Do you or anybody else have any other suggestion?
> 
> Floris.

With such a problem I would always check route. It has happened to me 
that there are 2 default routes or none at all. In both cases you will 
have problems with your network.

Aart